Anssi Vartiainen
So we have this bad guy named Voltan, and we have this hero named Hawk. And Hawk has a magic sword, with a metal hand for a pommel, which he can control with his mind. And we have a big dude. And a little dude. And an elf dude.Yeah, this movie wasn't made with a lot of thought put into it. I would almost call it intentionally silly, but there are certain scenes, which force me to think that they probably tried to make a serious movie here. Well, as serious as 80s fantasy films can ever be.The film is also made on a shoestring budget, with most of the locations being small and intimate. The costuming is actually fine, if a bit basic, and the score is okay, even if it doesn't fit the mood of the film particularly well. But it's the special effects where this movie absolutely drops the ball. They're silly. Just silly. Flashing lights and coloured filters for magic, jump cuts to imitate speed, neon-coloured backdrops, the whole gamut of just... why?And yet this is a fun movie to sit through. It's the very epitome of so bad it's good. I laughed myself silly watching this movie just fail on every basic level. Well, okay, that's bit harsh. I mean, the actors are trying, the story is not the worst possible and the characters are humorously stereotypical.Give it a watch with the right expectations and I guarantee you'll enjoy yourself.
Idiot-Deluxe
...........well, not so much... Hawk The Slayer is a British-made fantasy film from 1980 and for the most part is a film that's depressingly drab in look and leaden in pace. But on occasion this disappointing fantasy flick comes (erupts!) to life, in a flurry rapid-fire cuts, ultra-cheesy FX, over-the-top characters spouting inane babble and one of the most ridiculous soundtracks you'll ever hear; that being Harry Robertson's vaguely disco-esque, electro-pop monstrosity. It's all quite cringe-worthy really. Ultimately what you end up with Hawk The Slayer is a film that's very uneven, that frequently alternates back and forth in both mood and appearance, which ranges from bland and lifeless, to moments of laughably ludicrous comical excess. Which as you'll see are typically bathed in the garish and gaudy hues of the films patently ridiculous looking special effects, which are typically tasteless done and utterly over-the-top. Once it's all said and done Hawk The Slayer is a joke of a movie and it's always been my assumption that it's an embarrassment to all involved, with that being said it's not ALL bad and I've certainly seen much worse.On the matter of casting the film stars the little-known American actor John Terry in the title role of Hawk (The Slayer), who possess a mighty magical sword which enables him to slay his enemies with the utmost ease. His nemesis is an aging, but still very vital, Jack Palance as "Voltan, the dark one". Jack's involvement in this really makes me wonder, did he do this just for a paycheck or was Old Jack honestly stoked to do it? I vote the former. In order to slay the mighty Voltan and his army, Hawk enlists the help of a select crew of mighty adventurer's: A giant, an elf, a dwarf and some crusty, middle-aged, one-handed, English guy with a beard, armed with a rapid-fire crossbow. Their war party complete, it's now time for them to rescue "a woman of faith", they refer to her as an abbess, but in reality she's just a nun; whose being held for ransom by Voltan. In order to raise the funds for the ransom, Hawk and his posse raid a slaver's camp along the riverside (which is certainly one of the movies best scenes). There are many skirmish's and flash-backs throughout the movie, which you think would be exciting, but unfortunately Hawk The Slayer is a very tepidly paced affair for the most part.A major sore point for me is the movies utterly vapid color. To my eyes it looks unbelievably drab and lifeless, which in turn drastically lowers the movies overall sense of vitality and visual grandeur. Undoubtedly filmed in sunless conditions, under the brooding gray skies of England, I'm sure that's the main reason for Hawk's utterly vapid color. Compare this to "Willow" which was filmed some eight years later, in some of the very same regions, Hawk simply looks terrible and utterly dated.It's strong-points are few, relegated to a mere handful of exciting action scenes (especially the ones with the rapid-fire arrows whizzing through the air), aforementioned crazy characters (most especially Jack Palance as Voltan) but basically it's strongest points are scored on account of it's sheer goofiness - like many of the bad movies I review. Let's get to the part of the "ultra-cheesey FX". During the start of the movies finale, the FX crew actually used what's unmistakably green Silly String! I kid you not! Then moments later a meteor shower of what looks like hundreds of golf balls blasting through the air, that had been film in front of a blue-screen, then had glowing neon hues added in post-production, creating some of the most ridiculous looking effects ever seen.Speaking of the finale, the sword duel between Hawk and Voltan, like most of the movie, is a disappointment; lasting less then a minute, shot entirely in slow-motion and it's choreographed very lazily, it's anti-climatic to say the least. But before that can even happen John Terry and Jack Palance have to bore us some more, with yet more tedious dialog. That's one of the great things about Hawk The Slayer, the voice of Jack Palance, it was a true one-of-a-kind voice and it simply sounds incredibly intense throughout the majority of his scenes, purely venomous and bristling with menace and utter hostility; it's easily one of the best voices I've ever heard in any movie. In his best scenes Palance delivers a powerful performance, as Voltan the dark one, a cursed demonic knight who suffers from an infliction to his face that cannot be healed. A broad shouldered 6'5 specimen, Palance looks quite convincing in his armor and cape.However Hawk The Slayer has entirely too many ponderous scenes and a slew of other problems: tasteless art direction, woeful special effects, lot's of wooden acting, lacking color saturation, numerous instances of questionable editing, uniquely terrible music, etc.Hawk The Slayer: Is a colorful failure in the Sword and Sorcery genre, made bearable by several entertaining high-light scenes, which are usually rife with garish tastelessness - as only this film can do.
Joxerlives
Watched this in 1980 aged 7 as the supporting feature for Saturn 5 and enjoyed it a great deal more. Minscule budget, laughable special effects, terrible acting and astoundingly bad dialogue but it still works and indeed it's brilliant, a great way to pass 90 minutes. Especially love British comedy legend Bernard Breslaw as the giant (a reasonably small giant but when you're accustomed to seeing him as Sid James foil it really is such a different role for him). One scene that really stands out though is the part where Crow, the last Elfin archer speaks to Hawk of his weariness of battle; Crow; "We have waited together like this many times, you and I. Sometimes I grow tired of the fighting and killing. At night I hear my people calling for me from beyond the mountains. One day I will join them and my race will be forgotten" Hawk; "You will never be forgotten" Feels like it comes from a much better film.
alexeberlin
Hawk The Slayer is one of those movies that looks better through the rose tinted glow of nostalgia than it really is. In fact its a cheap, badly acted, stupid movie with rubbish effects that must have been written, directed and edited by a 5 year old.Jack Palance has some kind of eye patch and tries to make up for the wooden acting of everyone else by overacting to a degree that even the most over the top panto performer would be embarrassed by. Bernard Breslaw plays the giant without any kind of fx to make him look taller, clobbering the baddies with his plastic hammer like a kind of sword and sorcery Timmy Mallett. Wacaday!Most of the cast and the director never did any thing else memorable.Awful movie with a ridiculous soundtrack.
